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For the European Union, a once-unthinkable question is looking more like a real possibility with each new grinding week of economic crisis. The reason is that bad times are forcing the 17 EU nations that use the euro currency to move ever closer toward some kind of United States of Europe — one that could make decisions about how much member countries spend and how much tax they collect.

If ever Britain had a nightmare, that's it. The British public shows no interest in moving closer to the rest of Europe, and most can't even seem to stomach the status quo. The real question these days appears to be whether to drift away or break away abruptly.

After a 2015 election, Britain — among 10 of the 27 EU nations that don't use the euro — is likely to hold a referendum on whether to leave the EU. Even if it doesn't hold a vote, the country is already unpicking its ties with Europe, a movement that has unsettled Germany, which is eager to retain the U.K. as an important economic driver of the bloc.

"I will ask the inhabitants of the wonderful island to reflect that they will not be happy if they are alone in this world," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech before visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron last week in London.

Her outreach, however, has little impact here. British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who once toured the U.K. on a "Save The Pound" campaign that opposed the euro, believes the British public has never been more skeptical of European unity.

"Public disillusionment with the EU in Britain is the deepest it has ever been," he said last month. "People feel that in too many ways the EU is something that is done to them, not something over which they have a say."

Such distrust is tangled with worries over the fallout from the European debt crisis and anger at the European Court of Human Rights — castigated by British politicians for ordering Britain to give prisoners a vote in national elections, and preventing the U.K. from deporting terrorism suspects to countries with patchy human rights records.

Even more alarming for many in Britain, Merkel called last week for turning the European Commission, which currently drafts legislation and regulates competition, into "something like a European government." The phrase alone rattles the teeth of many British politicians, who have warned for decades of the specter of a European superstate.

"Withdrawing from the EU can no longer be dismissed as unthinkable. It is no longer a marginal view confined to mavericks, but a legitimate point that is starting to go mainstream," Douglas Carswell, a legislator with Cameron's Conservative Party, told Parliament as it debated the idea of leaving the EU.

Last month, Cameron faced a huge rebellion within his own party as 81 of the 303 Conservative lawmakers defied his orders and voted to hold an urgent referendum on EU membership in 2015. Under pressure from his own party and watching nervously as his traditional supporters are wooed by UKIP, a minority political party that advocates EU withdrawal, Cameron is expected to eventually offer Britain its first referendum about staying in the EU since 1973. The opposition Labour Party says it too would back holding a vote — but only when the eurozone crisis has come to an end.

Even without a decisive split, there are signs already of the diverging paths of Britain and the EU: — Because Britain does not use the euro, it has no voice in the decisions that affect the 17-member eurozone. It is worth remembering that all but three EU countries — the UK, Denmark and Sweden — are committed to using the euro eventually. So the eurozone meetings could one day be meetings of almost the entire European Union, with only three member states excluded.

— In March, 25 EU members signed a Fiscal Compact to provide for stronger oversight of national budgets. The two that didn't sign? The Czech Republic and Britain. — In October, 11 EU countries decided to go ahead with a tax on financial transactions. EU officials predict the number of participants will swell to more than 20. Britain will not be among them.

— Next year, EU officials will be working to set up a single banking supervisor for banks in countries that use the euro. Britain has said it is concerned about the prospect of decisions being made over which it has no say.

— Britain is planning to opt out of 130 European agreements on crime and justice — hoping to instead pick and choose how and when it cooperates with its neighbors on law enforcement. The decision would risk undermining the European Arrest Warrant system, which allows police to reach across European borders to easily arrests fugitive suspects.

The trend has political leaders in other countries worried. "If the eurozone is much more integrated and those outside are far away, the distance can become too wide and too large," Andreas Mavroyiannis, Cyprus' deputy minister for European Affairs, told The Associated Press. And that, he said, would be dangerous for the EU as a whole.

Officials in Brussels are deeply concerned, as well. "Probably rightly, I've been called an Anglophile," Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said in a magazine interview this summer. "I believe that Europe without Britain at the heart will be less reform-driven, less open, less an international Europe. That is why sometimes when I look at the debate in the U.K., I ask myself: 'How is it that this country is so open to the world, and apparently so closed to Europe?' It seems a contradiction."

The prospect of a British exit from the EU alarms some British business leaders, who see the bloc's free markets as vital to their nation's prosperity. "Whatever the popular appeal may be of withdrawal, businessmen and politicians must keep a bridge firmly in place," said Roger Carr, the president of the Confederation of British Industry, the nation's biggest business lobby.

"As countries of Europe bind together in pursuit of salvation, we in the U.K. must work harder to avoid the risks of isolation." Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left office in 2007 before the debt crisis struck, is another lonely advocate for British leadership in Europe.

"The 21st century case for Europe is based not on war or peace but on power or irrelevance," Blair said last month. "Europe carries weight, multiplies opportunity and makes sense for its individual nations."

He has urged Britain's government not to walk away, but to help build a new structure to help Europe balance the competing demands of the 17 eurozone nations and the remainder of the European Union. "It is a very tricky task. But it is an essential one if the U.K. is not to be sidelined," Blair said.

Peter Mandelson, a former member of Blair's Cabinet and ex-European Union trade commissioner, warns that going it alone would mean waning influence for Britain on the global stage. Britain, he said, soon could be a "Hong Kong to Europe's China, or a Canada to Europe's United States."

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and "Yankee" love of practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.

He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thoreau is sometimes cited as an anarchist, though Civil Disobedience seems to call for improving rather than abolishing government—"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government"—the direction of this improvement points toward anarchism: "'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have." Richard Drinnon partly blames Thoreau for the ambiguity, noting that Thoreau's "sly satire, his liking for wide margins for his writing, and his fondness for paradox provided ammunition for widely divergent interpretations of 'Civil Disobedience.'

I would like to share an important decision I took with you. This is gonna sound unexpected to a lot of people around, but I decided to put Detest Records to an end. I will not explain you why I took this decision as this is something pretty personal, I will just tell you that I feel good about doing so and that this decision has not been taken because of a drama popping up in my life or whatever, so no need to worry!

Detest Records was founded in August 2008 and the 4 years I spent working on this project have been very exciting. I got a lot of support from all around the world and I would like to thank you for that. Your support was my daily energy and will never be forgotten.

Furthermore, running Detest Records was for me a unique opportunity to get to know some very cool people, be they supporters, bands’ guys, label guys, zines editors, gigs promoters, artists or whatever and – most of all – was for me a fascinating way to support the music which has been running through my veins for 15 years.

As far as the releases which were on my agenda for the upcoming months are concerned, most of them will be passed to other labels around. My last releases will be the DISMA demo 12” which will be released in September this year and

I will also release ASCENDED Temple of dark offerings 12” (in cooperation with Iron Bonehead, no release date set yet) as well as KRYPTS, STENCH OF DECAY and SWALLOWED albums 12" in cooperation with Me Saco Un Ojo Records, not release dates set yet) but I will NOT take care of the distribution of those as my partners will since my distro will be closed when those are available.

I guess you’ll agree that DISMA, ASCENDED, KRYPTS, SWALLOWED and STENCH OF DECAY are pretty cool bands to end up this adventure!

The distro will remain open for some more months but I will basically stop stocking new items. When the closing approaches, I’ll do a large sales action to move my stock. All pending trades will of course be fulfilled.

Thanks again for your support, it meant and still means a lot to me. I will not vanish at all so … talk to you soon!

Fifty-one concertgoers were hurt and nine sustained serious injuries when a single lightning bolt struck a mast at the eastern German festival With Full Force Saturday night.

According to Spiegel Online, the lightning strikes sent some music fans flying through the air — and left behind a wasteland of destroyed tents, panicked guests and a venue flooded with mud and deep puddles. "The first showers, heavy as they were, provided just an inkling of what was to come," the site describes. "Just before 2 a.m., the next black cloud parked over the stage. And the lightning it unloaded resulted in 51 injuries, three of them landing in the intensive care unit of a nearby hospital."

Emergency services spent several hours at the scene treating those who had been sheltering in a cocktail bar near where the lightning struck, The Local reports.

With Full Force annually attracts tens of thousands of visitors in the town of Roitzschjora near Leipzig. This year, bands like SOULFLY, MACHINE HEAD, FLOGGING MOLLY and PENNYWISE performed at the event.

Microsoft may be building the Surface tablet, but it isn't making its own phones, at least for now. Microsoft exec Greg Sullivan told Information Week that the company absolutely, positively doesn't have a Microsoft Phone in the works - no matter what some random analysts with unnamed sources say.

I believe him. There are two reasons Microsoft isn't building its own phones: carriers and distribution. Let me explain.

Carriers: Hey, Remember The Kin?Microsoft "built" a phone before. (I'm using the word "built" loosely because, while Microsoft-branded, Sharp did the actual manufacturing.) It was called the Kin. It was a disaster.

Unless you're Apple, whether your phone succeeds in North America largely comes down to one thing: how's your relationship with the carriers? This is true in most of western Europe, too. Carriers control massive distribution networks, they spend millions on advertising specific phones, and they provide the all-important subsidies that make handsets look much less expensive than they actually are. They also sometimes dictate the service plan on which your phone will operate.

Microsoft signed an exclusive deal with Verizon to sell the Kin - so far, so good - and then Verizon completely screwed Microsoft on the service plans. Designed as an entry-level "texting phone plus," the Kin got priced and sold like far more capable smartphones, and it went nowhere.

Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and even Huawei have spent years nurturing carriers, and they have broad product lines that make their conversations with carriers a two-way street. If Carrier X really wants to customize Hot Phone Y, the OEM may talk it into accepting Windows Phone Z as well. Microsoft simply doesn't have the level of trust or long-term relationships with the carriers to make that work yet.

Distribution: That Nokia DealMicrosoft has decent sales relationships with mainstream electronics stores. But that's not generally where people go to buy cell phones. To buy phones, people generally go to carriers, to specialized phone retailers like Europe's Carphone Warehouse, or even to general stores that don't carry a lot of other electronic equipment.

One of the reasons Microsoft partnered with Nokia is that Nokia has an amazing level of distribution in much of the world. We don't see Nokia's penetration here in the U.S., but Nokia has 21 "care centers" in South Africa, 21 in just the city of Delhi, and 13 in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan. And those are just the premier support centers; Nokia devices are sold by hundreds of shops in each of those places.

Working with other OEMs gives Microsoft even greater distribution. Samsung has 130 of its own branded retail and support centers in Korea alone. A March 27 article in the Taipei Times said HTC plans to expand its presence in China from 2,000 to 4,000 retail stores.

Apple, of course, owns several hundred retail stores in 13 countries and has relationships with a slew of independent vendors as well.

Microsoft just doesn't have that level of distribution for mobile phone hardware - at least yet. The company could be working on building such a network, perhaps by convincing stores to carry its Surface tablet. Or it could just buy Nokia.

Why Surface Doesn't = PhoneSo that might leave you wondering: why is Microsoft building Surface, but not a phone?

Surface (and Xbox, for that matter), don't have the same issues phones do. We've seen reports that the first Surface tablets will be Wi-Fi-only - that's specifically so Microsoft will never have to deal with carriers. And Surface tablets will probably be sold through computer retailers, with which Microsoft already has a relationship.

Surface can lay the groundwork for a future phone, though. Carrier versions of Surface will eventually develop, and the relationships Microsoft forges there could lead to talks about Microsoft-branded phones. And Microsoft, possibly through a Nokia acquisition, will work on extending its retail reach.

Microsoft's OEMs are clearly concerned. I've heard from several insiders that Samsung, the most financially successful mobile-phone company other than Apple, is working on various plans to nuture its own operating systems in case Microsoft and Google become competitors rather than vendors. Samsung's existing Bada, Tizen, and even a possible BlackBerry 10 buy are in play. But this is long-term planning, not an immediate or definite jump.

Is Microsoft building a phone today? I don't think so. Will it ever? Maybe when Windows Phone 9 rolls around.

Henry Victor Dicks (1900 - 12 July 1977) was a British psychiatrist. He drew on his wartime experiences, which included the medical care of Rudolf Hess, to develop views on authoritarian personality and the collective psychopathology of authoritarian regimes.Life

Henry Dicks was born at Pernau, Estonia (then in Russia) in 1900. His father was an English exporter and shipowner who also acted as British Vice-Counsul, and his mother came from an academic German family. He was educated at Pernau, Riga and St Petersburg, and by the time the family returned to England after the Russian he was able to speak English, Russian, and German fluently, as well as speaking some French.

After serving as an interpreter with Military Intelligence with the British Expeditionary Force in North Russia, and then with the British Military Mission in South Russia and the Caucasus, he studied natural sciences at St John's College, Cambridge and medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1928 he joined the recently founded Tavistock Clinic, risng to become Assistant Medical Director there from 1934 to 1946, and publishing a psychiatric textbook in 1939.

In 1941 he joined the British Army as a Specialist Psychiatrist. Because of his ability to speak German, he was charged with medical care of Rudolf Hess in May-June 1941. From 1942 to 1944 he advised Military Intelligence on German morale; from 1944 to 1945 he advised SHAEF on psychological warfare; and from 1945 to 1946 he advised the Control Commission for Germany on de-Nazification.

In 1946 Dicks was appointed the first Nuffield Professor of Psychiatry at Leeds University, but returned to the Tavistock in 1948, and remained there until 1965 as Deputy Director and Consultant Psychiatrist in charge of the Marital Unit. From 1966 to 1970 he was a Senior Research Officer at the Centre for Research in Collective Psychopathology, University of Sussex.

Details of Trondr’s death have not yet been revealed, however Season of Mist, whom Urgehal are signed to, are expected to release a full statement soon.

The French label posted the following this morning: “We are deeply sorry to announce that Urgehal guitarist / vocalist Trondr Nefas just passed away. More news and official statement to follow soon. RIP.”

Beastcraft’s official Facebook page posted yesterday: “He [Nefas] was found dead at a cabin in the forest this Saturday. We still don’t know the cause of death”.

Born Trond Bråthen, the blasphemer was infamous for his demon voice and ‘lead guitar fuck’ with Urgehal, Beastcraft and Angst Skavdron, amongst others.Trondr Nefas 1977-2012

AFTER DEATH Was Created In 1.999 Ab By Former MORBID ANGEL, NOCTURNUS And ACHERON Drummer/Vocalist Mike Browning. The Band Started As Nocturnus AD With 3 Of The 4 Original Members From The Original NOCTURNUS Line-Up From 1.987 Ab. An EP Was Recorded In 2.000 Ab For HAMMERHEART Records But Was Never Released Due To The Label Going Out Of Business. After Some Lineup Changes And A Few Demos Being Put Out, Mike B. Found Guitar Player Demian H. In 2.005 Ab And They Have Been Collaborating And Writing Songs Ever Since.In 2.007 ab AFTER DEATH Released A Full Length CD Of All Their Recordings Since 2.000 ab All On One Disc Called "Retronomicon" On IRON PAGASUS Records (Germany), Also Released On Vinyl. In 2.008 ab The Band Toured Europe As NOCTURNUS/AFTER DEATH Tour In 2.010 ab AFTER EATH Signed A Split CD Deal With PROSELYTISM (Chile) Including The Occult Death Metal Band UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (Chile) And A Chilean Tour. In September 2.011 ab AFTER DEATH Visited Chile For Three Dark Nights Of Occult Metal, Performing Classic Tracks From NOCTURNUS “The Key” 1.990 ab And MORBID ANGEL “Abomination Of Desolation” 1.986 ab Together With UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (Chile), DIABOLICAL MESSIAH (Chile), NECRORIPPER (Chile) And COMMUNION (Chile). Now With The Release “Dwellers Of The Deep” / “The Madness From The Sea” We Will See What The Future Holds… Your Future!!

------- Heic noenum pax --------

UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN Was Formed In 1.999 ab, Santiago De Chile. UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN Is Conceptually And Spiritually Dedicated To Explore The Dark Side Of Life And Death, Obeying The Signals Revealed And Dictated By “The Ancient Ones”, In Ideological Conspiracy With The Legacy Of The American Author H.P.Lovecraft. UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN IS Musically And Artistically Dedicated To Keep Burning The Black Flame Of Metal As Their Predecessors Did: INCANTATION, SHUB NIGGURATH, IMMOLATION, PENTAGRAM (Chile), MORBID ANGEL, MORTA SKULL, DISMEMBER, SADISTIC INTENT, DEMIGOD, MORTEM, Etc. UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN Doesn’t Put Out “Recordings”, It Is A Band Dedicated To Construct An Act: The Will Of Perseverance And Tradition Of The Superstitious And Clandestine Cult Without Name Under The Consolidated Concept Of “Occult Death Metal”. UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN Is Performing Live One Of The Most Solid Shows/Rituals Coming Out From The Valleys Of The End Of This Planet: Professional Sound And Unrelenting Performance. These Shows Has Been Performed In Germany, Denmark, Belgium, France, Spain And Obviously In Chile Together With: AFTER DEATH (U.S.A.), NECROHOLOCAUST (Can), DIABOLICAL MESSIAH (Chile), FORCE OF DARKNESS (Chile), COMMUNION (Chile), VENENUM (Germany), DEMONIC RAGE (Chile), GODLESS (Chile), MAGNANIMVS (Chile), Etc. The Las Revelation “Chapter V: The Madness From The Sea” Are Five Manifestations Of “The Ancient Ones” + A Cover Of MORTEM (Perú) Is Their Part Of The Split CD With AFTER DEATH - Atmospheric Occult Black Death Metal From U.S.A. (NOCTURNUS MORBID ANGEL, INCUBUS, ACHERON, LETHAL PRAYER, Etc.)